By Arshad Mohammed and Thomas Heath
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, July 14, 2006; D01

Federal regulators yesterday took a step that may help resolve a dispute that has kept Washington Nationals games off the region's largest cable network.

The Federal Communications Commission gave the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which carries most of the team's games, the right to demand arbitration as part of its efforts to get on the Comcast Corp. system.

The action, part of the FCC's approval of a major acquisition by Comcast, does not guarantee that the 1.3 million Comcast subscribers in the Washington area will be able to see Nationals games, but it dramatically strengthens the hand of MASN.

The FCC gave its blessing to Comcast and Time Warner Inc.'s roughly $17.6 billion deal to buy the assets of Adelphia Communications Corp., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection four years ago after an accounting scandal.

The purchase would make Comcast and Time Warner, already the largest cable companies in the nation, even bigger. Under the deal, Comcast would strengthen its presence in the Washington region by acquiring Adelphia's cable systems in Loudoun County.

As it approved the merger, the FCC gave regional sports networks such as MASN the right to demand commercial arbitration if they cannot resolve disputes like the 15-month stalemate between MASN, which is majority owned by Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, and Comcast, the nation's largest cable company.

Spokesmen from Time Warner and Comcast said they were pleased that the FCC had approved the deal but declined to comment on the conditions imposed.

A lawyer for MASN said the sports network hoped to resume talks with Comcast as soon as possible and would seek arbitration if it could not reach an agreement.

"We would welcome the opportunity to speak with Comcast at the first opportunity to reach a distribution agreement so that arbitration is not necessary," said attorney David Frederick, who represents MASN in the FCC proceeding.

As described by FCC officials, the process would begin with the arbitrator deciding whether Comcast had discriminated against MASN in refusing to broadcast the games. If so, both sides would put forward their best offers and the arbitrator would pick one in a process known as baseball-style arbitration.

The FCC's move may put pressure on Comcast to resolve the matter before it gets to arbitration, where the cable firm would have limited influence over the outcome and could be forced to pay more than it would like to carry MASN.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), who had pressured the FCC to address the issue, said he hoped the two sides would work out a deal.

"This is a great victory for baseball fans everywhere," Davis said. "No longer can baseball oligopolies put finances before the interests of the fans. I hope the parties can now expeditiously resolve these matters and get the Nationals games on the air."

Fans said they were delighted to see progress on the matter even as they voiced exasperation that the two sides had not already struck a deal.

"I don't see why it takes a federal action to bring about something companies should do just because they are in the Nationals market and should support the team," said Steve Thompson, a Nationals fan who lives in Vienna.

The FCC also imposed several other conditions on the merger, which it approved by a 4 to 1 vote.

Among these, it required Comcast and Time Warner to make most of their own regional sports networks available to their competitors, including satellite providers such as DirecTV and Dish Network. If the two sides cannot come to terms, the other video providers would have the right to demand arbitration.

However, the FCC carefully excluded Philadelphia from this condition, meaning Comcast can continue to shut out the two satellite companies from access to Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, which broadcasts most of the Phillies, Sixers and Flyers games.

The agency also imposed a condition whereby independent programmers can demand arbitration if they cannot strike deals with cable companies to carry their shows.

"Viewers consider the programming that RSNs [regional sports networks] carry as 'must have' TV," FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin said in a statement. "In North Carolina, there is no substitute for Tarheel basketball."

FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps, the lone dissenter in the vote, harshly criticized the agency's action.

"This decision is about Big Media getting bigger, with consumers left holding the bag," Copps said, predicting that the deal would push up cable prices in the key markets.

The roots of the Comcast-MASN dispute are tangled. The Baltimore Orioles, who own most of MASN, were given TV rights to the Washington area by Major League Baseball in 1981.

When the Nationals moved to Washington last season, the Orioles agreed to share the territory and dropped their opposition to the franchise's relocation in return for control of local television broadcasts of the Nationals. Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen has called the agreement to compensate the Orioles "the original sin" that is the root cause of the current disagreement.

Orioles games, which are shown on Comcast SportsNet, will move to MASN next season. Comcast has sued MASN and the Orioles in Maryland Circuit Court to prevent that move. The case has been thrown out twice and is under appeal. In the meantime, Comcast has refused to air Nationals games.